the17thman

Aqua Sphere - Kayenne Goggles - Amanda Beard

Sunday's Swim Report - DIY Projects For Swimmers

Lane 1 - lifehacker posts "Make DIY Prescription Swimming Goggles with Sugru
Prescription swimming goggles can be pretty expensive. If you have a spare pair of your regular prescription you can add them to a standard pair of swimming goggles with a packet of Sugru, the hacker-friendly curable adhesive."

Lane 2 - reuters posts "Olympics-France aim for eight to 10 swimming medals in London.  France are aiming to win eight to 10 swimming medals at the London Olympics after 29 swimmers qualified via the national championships"

Lane 3 - New Zealand Herald posts "Snyders swims under mark but aims to go faster.  North Shore swimmer Glenn Snyders was the first under the Olympic Games qualifying time on the opening morning of heats at the New Zealand swimming championships in Waitakere yesterday."

Lane 4 - Perth Now posts "Dawn Fraser's barb still stings swimmer Leisel Jones.  T HAS been eight years and two Olympics since Dawn Fraser unloaded on Leisel Jones.  Having finished third in the 100m breaststroke in Athens in 2004, Jones could not hide her disappointment and Fraser called her a "spoilt brat".  Jones has not spoken to Fraser since.  "All I want to do is protect people," Jones said. "People make mistakes. I was 18 at the time. Why not back me? She knows we train for four years for one moment in time, and it was a shot of a facial expression."

Lane 5- Charlotee Observer posts "Charlotte UltraSwim field could be best yet.  Charlotte’s UltraSwim meet traditionally has hosted a strong field of swimmers ever since it began in 1985. But this year’s field for the May 10-13 event at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center could be the best in its history.  “We should have about 90percent of the swimmers who ultimately make the U.S. Olympic team,” said Jeff Gaeckel, one of the event organizers."

Lane 6 - OC Register posts "Sex allegation divides powerhouse swim club.  A Mission Viejo Nadadores coach is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl.   Daniel Ad'm Dusenbury was a rising coaching star in international swimming circles.  He held a coveted spot on the staff at Mission Viejo Nadadores, widely regarded as the world's most famous swim club. He had a prestigious fellowship with the American Swimming Coaches Association. He regularly appeared on the list of speakers at coaching clinics alongside legendary tutors of Olympic champions and world record-holders."

Lane 7 - Wicked Local posts "Swimmer overcomes overwhelming odds to swim (and walk) again.  Winters in South Bend are harsh.  Growing up on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, I know this…So, back in 1992, when I first heard that the bus carrying the Notre Dame women’s swim team had crashed and overturned during a blinding snowstorm four miles from campus, I immediately knew two things.  I knew exactly the spot where it happened.  And I knew it would be bad.  Two freshmen, Meghan Beeler and Colleen Hipp, just starting their lives out on their own and thrilled to belong to the sisterhood of the varsity swim team, were killed…A third classmate and teammate, 18 year-old freshmen Haley Scott from Phoenix, suffered a severe back injury that required immediate surgery."

Lane 8 - Independent posts "On The Road To 2012: I need to be in a pool improving my speed rather than training in lakes and rivers.  SIMON TURNBULL - At the last Olympics in Beijing, I was the flag-bearer for Bulgaria during the opening ceremony. I have represented my country in swimming at the last three Games. I hope London will be number four.  First I need to qualify. The qualification event for the 10km open swimming is in Setubal, Portugal, on 10 June."

Ultimate Water Challenge: PINK vs CLEAR

I was the first on deck but the last one to actually start swimming this morning as I was adjusting my new goggles.  Now I bought two different yet the same pairs of goggles at SwimOutlet.com so you'd figure they'd fit the same.  I got -
Sporti Antifog Swedish Goggles - Clear
Sporti Antifog Swedish Premium Goggles - Pink

They seem the same but on closer inspection the Pink or Premium Swedes feature a "Silicone eye gaskets."  So they seem to be nicer around the eyes.  I still gotta play around with them but the Pink do fit better.  Anyways, playing with them this morning took up some of my warm up time so I missed a junk of the warm up.

 

Warm Up

 

350 Swim / 200 Kick

Main Set:

5x100's on 1:40 - 50 Catch Up / 50 Build

2x500's on 7:30.  2nd one faster

5x100's on 1:30 Descend.

With no extra rest in between each section.  So a 2,000 yard main set.  Now my first 5x100's I was easily coming in the low 1:20's.  My first 500 I was coming in under 1:20's I forgot exactly what my time was in but I remember saying to my mate that we had one minute rest so I was under 6:30.  Grrr....for my 2nd one I was faster but I so can't remember what it was, when I landed on the clock to figure out the math but I was faster.  I know I was.  I know I started at like a 1:10 was below a 1:15 for the splits.    I wanna say I was like a 5:56 it my memory is right.  I know I was under the 6 minute mark. Which makes sense.  Then the last 5x100's were not descended.  But I was consistent coming in at 1:09 then all 1:10's. 

And that was it.  End of the swim.  2,550 yards in less then 45 minutes.  May have been 40 minutes but let's say 45.  I should have warmed down but really had to pee so once I got out I was out. 

The rest of the week is sorta up in the air.  I gotta work early Wednesday so most likely no swimming.  I should be able to swim tomorrow but they are working on the pool's heater today so who knows if it'll be open tomorrow or how cold or hot it'll be.  Thursday and Friday are clear for swimming.   That is if folks are swimming at the pool closer to me as the last two Fridays they've been swimming at another pool and I've slept in.  Then on Saturday we or they are having a Relay Carnival that I'll be swimming a few 50's in.  So got a bit of swimming to do this week.

Hopefully I'll get in some good yardage this week to boost up my Go The Distance.  I'm ahead of my revised down goal for 2012!

I See Everything In Pink! Pink Goggles That Is!

Sunday!  It's my morning for a nice long swim.  And this morning I got to try my new goggles. 

The Workout:

Warm Up
200 Swim / 100 Pull w/o Paddles / 200 Pull w/ Paddles
3x100's Kick on 2 minutes. (800)

6x50's Kick (300/1100)

3x200's Pulling with paddles on 3 minutes.  I alternated breathing every 3 and 5 by 50.  (600/1700)

6x50's Pulling w/o paddles (300/2000)

Then the other swimmers started to show up and I did about a 200 mixed kick and a 100 swim till everyone was ready to start together.  (300/2300)

3x100's Kick on 2 minutes.  I was flying on these with butterfly kick doing 1:35's.  Which is fast for me.  (300/2600)

3x200's Backstroke on 3:20.  I descended these and ended up at a 2:32.  I think.  It's a fuzzy.  I so need one of those swim watches to keep track of this shit.  (600/3200)

4x100's Breaststroke on some interval.  I actually felt okay with these and did a descend.  I think I ended up with like a 1:37 which is again fast for me.  (400/3600)

10x50's Butterfly on 55.  OY!  I was pretty much coming in between 35 and 40.  (500/4100)

And that was it.  I was beat and sooo hungry!  A banana on Sunday morning just doesn't cut it.  I felt okay during the last butterfly part except I had a damn Avril Lavigne or however you spell her name song stuck in my head.  That almost killed me!

 

The Goggle Monster Strikes Back

Ahhh…swimming again.  After a few days off it was nice to be back in the pool.  Of course it was even better that it was a super duper easy workout.  Since everyone is tapering for a Senior Swim Meet no one was at the pool at 7am.  Well with me included only three of us showed up.  Since they are tapering I get the best of both worlds for this swim meet.  I'm not 55+ so I'm not competing but yet I get the taper.  Well I sorta will have the taper.  Since I haven't been in the pool since last Friday I got an easy workout.  I swam along side of the tapering swimmers.  I'm sure tomorrow I'll have a different and much harder workout.

Warm Up
Mixed 550 then a 200 Kick (750)

3x100's on 2:10 Swim/Kick/Pull/Build by 25 (300/1050)

2x100's First one pace and second one a bit faster.  The other swimmer was to swim the second 100 on what they wanted to go out on their first 100 in the 500.  I just sorta swam it not to fast but with some effort.  (200/1250)

3x100's Pulling breathing every 3 on 1:30 (they were doing im/switches 50's)  (300/1550)

Then I did 3x100's Kick with fins on 2:.. (300/1850)

Then an easy 50 and got out.  (50/1900)

It was a nice workout just to get back in the water.  I plan on swimming tomorrow but then won't swim to Sunday.  Hopefully I'll be more consistent after that.  Now the sad part of the story is that I'm on reserve goggles.  The other week I lost my favorite pair of Swede Goggles!  So I was using my second favorite pair of goggles from Ministry of Swimming.  But then the band broke on Friday when swimming.  On Friday I borrowed a pair of goggles from another swimmer.  Then today I brought my reserve collection of goggles.  None of them are bad but I just didn't like them.  First I had to play during warm up to get them feeling right.  Then just the tint of color seemed just off to me.  Goggles are like Godilocks and the beds…they just gotta hit that sweet spot.  But I do wanna know where my Swede's are?  Did the Goggle Monster take them?  Oh well, I guess it's time to buy new goggles. 

Sunday's Swim Report - Flying Gull Edition

Lane 1 - Xtri has "Kona 2011 Gear: Tyr’s New Goggle Rocks.  Goggles are a very small yet extremely important part of your Tri-arsenal. They can turn an otherwise great swim into a zig-zagging, eye burning debacle. I have been searching for goggle nirvana for 20 years, and maybe, just maybe I found it on the Kona pier this am. Tyr's new "Special Ops" polarized goggle is by far the best I've tried."

Lane 2 - The Sydney Morning Herald posts "Dark horse set for the spotlight.  Eamon Sullivan is the forgotten member of Australia's male swimming triumvirate - but in London he will be looking to leave his culinary pursuits behind and perform in the pool, writes Michael Cowley.  The new, the old and the forgotten. They are Australian swimming's male triumvirate. The new, exciting, fearless world champion, James Magnussen, the old, wily, mysterious superstar making a comeback, Ian Thorpe, and then there is the forgotten … surely you remember Eamon Sullivan?"

Lane 3 - The National posts "A life of solitary refinement for lonely swimmers. A profound loneliness ... an inconvenient biology ... an unusual brand of physical and psychological punishment …OK, so these might sound like symptoms of some bedraggled supporter of some beleaguered low-tier football club, but they also are common enemies of the ambitious swimmer, and they illustrate why it is so blasted hard to build any human being into the tier of elite. These goblins exist, they lurk and they howl so as to be formidable enough even if you did not mix in, as in the UAE and other places, an old, old enemy of sporting success …"

Lane 4 - The Sydney Morning Herald posts "Guessing game on Thorpe's Olympic comeback form.  horpe will make his comeback to racing at the Swimming World Cup in Singapore on November 4-5. It will be the world's first look at Thorpe in the water since the 2006 Commonwealth Games trials in January that year, and one of the events he will target is Sullivan's 100m freestyle."

Lane 5 - Bettor has "Geoff Huegill to lead Australian team at the European stages of FINA/Arena World Cup.  One of the most splendid Australian butterfly swimmers, Geoff Huegill is set to lead the Australian team for the European stages of the 2011 Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA)/Arena World Cup Series.  The World Cup is starting on October 7 in Dubai, after which the next three stops will be held in Stockholm, Moscow and Berlin. Australia will not participate in the opening stage of the championship, while the 32-year-old Huegill will be leading the nation’s squad to the next three consecutive stops."

Lane 6 - The Independent Florida Alligator reports "Gators swimming continues strong performance at All-Florida Invite. Things went according to plan for the Florida men’s and women’s swim teams as both squads continued to dominate the All-Florida Invitational.  The most impressive performance Saturday came from freshman Matt Elliot, who took home first place honors in the 400-meter individual medley (3:50:96) and 100-meter breaststroke (55:64). With UF coach Gregg Troy emphasizing the importance of this meet for his incoming freshman class; it has been Elliot’s performance that has stood out most."

Lane 7 - "Do you know why there are so many swimming events?"  Well Pierra Knows!  via youtube

Lane 8 - Tampa Bay Online posts "Local sharks still nothing to fear.  Hold the presses; sharks are trying to eat people at Anna Maria.  That's sort of the gist of the national news after two people were bitten in a little over a week near the island town on the south edge of Tampa Bay."

How to Assemble Swedish Goggles

Friday's Swim Report - Now With 69% More Scandal, Opprobrium & Turpitude

1.  The Daily News of Open Water Swimming talks up "Hipster Open Water Swimming Goggles…Keo Nakama, an inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, was a multi-sport star and one of the greatest swimmers of his era.  And, boy, did he use some classic goggles. Too bad manufacturers don't make those anymore. Who cares about fit, when you look cool?"  I so could go for some steampunk goggles.

2.  I promised more Scandal and while I sit back the SCAQ Blog delivers "Scandal? - The IOC investigating Vancouver’s secret Russian deal that may have brought the 2010 Games to Canada - Alexander Popov key voter?"  Maybe I do just sit back and wait for another scandal. 

3.  The FINIS Blog asks "Why are swimmers so clumsy out of water?"

4.  Reezy Daily has the vid of "Preview: Ryan Lochte Surprises Rose Bowl Aquatics."  Umm...Nice Hat!

5.  I went to the QUAC Ski-N-Swim a few years ago and had a blast!  I so want to again.  Till then I'll just look at photographs from this year over a dav.d photography.

6.  The West reports "Abu Dhabi base no publicity stunt: Thorpe…Ian Thorpe has strongly rejected any suggestion that his training stint in Abu Dhabi is a publicity stunt."  Meanwhile The Sydney Morning Herald reports "Thorpe gives little away before taking off…HE STILL won't reveal who his coach will be, or any of his training partners, but as Ian Thorpe left Sydney for Abu Dhabi yesterday, he did make one thing clear: he needs to make big improvements if he wants to make the Olympic team for London 2012."

7.  It's OSCAR Weekend!  The Guardian UK reports on "The top 10 Oscars books."  Now why is this swimming related?  Well, check out book number four - "4) Anthony Holden – The Oscars: The Secret History of Hollywood's Academy Awards (1993)  As you would expect from Holden, a highly readable, professional, well-researched job of work, though I don't think any great secrets are disclosed. He has an interesting passage on the brief and doomed attempt to give Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz a movie career and make him the'"male Esther Williams'."  If you want to see Spitz and his acting "ability" go to Hulu and search for Emergency!: Season 4: Episode 8.

8.  Gord's Swim Log reports on the craziness of "Cold water swimming is like drugs (not that I know what that's like though)  Ever go swimming in water that is 41°F/5°C?  At first you think, why would anyone want to do that?  Initial impression is "That's so stupid".  But once you do it, you achieve a high that I couldn't reasonably explain.  You have to experience it to relate."

9.  The Wobbly Block "CONFIRMED: Diving into freezing water backwards really does not help very much."

10.  "Watch: Sea Monsters and Water Chestnuts" via Towleroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing - MINISTRY OF SWIMMING

I will be trying out of bunch of different goggles from Ministry of Swimming.  Check out the facebook page.

Goggle Twitter Fun

What started off earlier this week as a few blog posts and tweets about the new carbon goggles slowly turned a slow swim blog week to all out twitter/photoshop madness.  Yeah some of us swimmers have way too much free time.  Here is the timeline..

The other day I posted a teaser photo on this blog and via yfrog on twitter...

Then a few hours later I realized I was an idiot and didn't scroll down the email to see that I had two addition photos as seen below.

Then the good pr folks sent me information about the new goggles including the fact that they will retail for $100.00.  So then via comments to this blog and via twitter swimmers and swim bloggers had some love and some hate on the retail price.  Then Eric os the Kast-A-Way blog and all of his geekness figured out how many swede goggles one could buy for the price of one carbon goggle.  Twitter is showing the big fail whale so I can't find it but it was about a 22 to 1 ratio.  Well then in response to Erics math Rob at Robaquatics posted a pic on his blog and twitter of his fine goggle collection.

Then Eric remembered a post over at the Swimnetwork talking about cheap goggles and why we all should love them.  The article mentioned how we as swimmers will eventually misplace our favorite goggles to the goggle monster.  Well Eric came up with a cute graphic for the blog and twitter. LINK

To this tweet from Eric I jokingly tweeted that Eric was calling Rob a Goggle Monster.  Within minutes Eric then Twitted this picture...

Yeah us swim blogger / twitters need to get a life.  Anyways so when Rob came back from his afternoon swim the was shocked that we were calling him a Goggle Monster.  So much so he took to his collection and digicam to make this animated gif...(see robaquatics for animation)

Ahhh...happy joy joy.  Don't you wish you follow all of us on twitter.  All these tweets were almost as much fun as the day we had a speedo swim suit butt conversation and all changed our twitter avatars to our ass pix. Good times. Boy that was fun!  And since I am not as creative as Rob and Eric I will leave you with my best Holiday Wishes and my pink holiday tree..